April 2014 Grocery Challenge

cw18

Last reported spends were those from 15th.

So I need to add

£11.14 from 16th (£2.50 at Icel@nd, £4.02 at Mr M which included £2.03 on Whoopsies worth £4.50, and £4.62 in A1di)

£11.64 from 18th (£7.40 in A1di, £1.99 in £-Stretchers, and £2.25 in Morrisons on Whoopsies worth £8.98)

then £9 spent at a food festival on 19th. there's a bit more to add to this, but I need to check with OH exactly what (did a 'bulk buy' that was two-thirds his and one-third mine, and he forgot to collect the pennies from me before he went to work yesterday - think it's another £3.30-ish, but could be closer to £4)

and 95p on milk today


Off to update signature, but still well within budget for this month.

And having started a stock-take on non-freezer/fridge foods this morning I can't see any reason for breaking any budget this year.... even without taking into account opened packs of cereals I've got 475 official portions in the house (though I often eat 2 or 3 at time if I'm going to be doing a lot of exercise in the day). And then I've got 132 packs of soup powder (the type that are supposed to serve 3 or 4, but I use 1 per 2 portions) which I use for weekday lunches if I'm not at the gym or out on a long walk (going to experiment with a small flask and see if I can take with me - I've not used it in years, and have a feeling that's because it wasn't keeping things hot enough for long enough)

I've barely started logging snack bars, savoury items, desserts, 'treat items' (sweets and biscuits), drinks and baking items yet, but I reckon I shouldn't need anything (apart from possibly some bread flour, dried yeast, pickles and dried pasta) other than fresh fruit and veg or chilled perishables until at least the end of the year, and very little in the way of meat even from that side :eek:

iammumtoone

Mrs_T_M wrote: »

I forgot to cook the black beans when I mentioned the brownies, but I have beans soaking so they can be cooked tomorrow. Hopefully brownies will be forthcoming tomorrow night!

thanks I'll look forward to the verdict. I will have to use dried beans as well as I could not find any tins

iammumtoone

This weeks meal plan is

Mon - pizza
tues - sausages, roast pots, yorkshire, broc, cauli
Weds - egg on toast, mushrooms
Thurs - mushroom stroganoff, pots, greens beans, peas
Fri - chicken fajitas

Lunches - soups

Treats - brownies? lemon curd cake

I spent £21.91 in mr T today which is not a good start as I forgot to take my list with me and when I got home realised I had missed lot of items some which can wait till next week and some that can't.

Frizzle_2

Another NSD today!
Did some jobs around the house, had some visitors and then went for a walk with ds1 on his bike.
Also made 2 chicken and bacon pies (1 small, 1 big) from yesterday's left overs, and 2 massive apple turnovers as requested by hubby!
I will freeze the smaller pie. I already have another small one in there so next time I can pull out the two small ones and that will make a meal for all of us!

Mrs_T_M

iammumtoone wrote: »

thanks I'll look forward to the verdict. I will have to use dried beans as well as I could not find any tins

Two words: slow cooker! Soak the beans in boiling hot water for an hour (or cool water overnight), then cook on high for anywhere from 4-6 hours, or until beans are 'done' consistency. Way cheaper than tinned beans. I hate paying for water in tinned stuff.

K9sandFelines

Had some spends today, but not sure how much to add. I wanted to claim the eggnspoons as part of the Shopitize app; but i thought you coud buy more than one of the same item, and claim the cashback, but i think i misunderstood and it's just the one item. So i spent £0.98 x 6 with £1.00 shopitize cashback, so £4.88, then 2 x 0.29p on YS hot cross buns, 2 Lemon bakwells @ 50p each and lemonade x 40p (to go with late birthday drink (wine off Dad)).

£7.86

Hopefully no spends now til small shop on Thursday, as only slot i could find costing £0.50p delivery

iammumtoone

Mrs_T_M wrote: »

Two words: slow cooker!

Great idea thank you, I knew I'd get good advise from this thread never thought to use my slow cooker for this. I eat a fair few butter beans, I will be buying dried once I have used up my stock of tinned. I also buy kidney beans, do you do those in the slow cooker? I am happy to cook my own of everything else but scared to do kidney beans as I know you have to be careful with these.

Mrs_T_M

iammumtoone wrote: »

Great idea thank you, I knew I'd get good advise from this thread never thought to use my slow cooker for this. I eat a fair few butter beans, I will be buying dried once I have used up my stock of tinned. I also buy kidney beans, do you do those in the slow cooker? I am happy to cook my own of everything else but scared to do kidney beans as I know you have to be careful with these.

I do kidney beans the same as any dried beans, just make sure any beans you cook are actually fully cooked. Butter beans don't need a slow cooker, they cook in 20-30 minutes on the hob after being soaked a bit.

This is a great tutorial on how to cook dried beans in the slow cooker: http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2008/10/cooking-dried-beans-in-crockpot.html

And this (from the same site) is a list of recipes using beans with a slow cooker: http://crockpot365.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/beans.html

JIL

You need to be really careful with both kidney beans and soya beans. Unlike other beans these both have a toxin in the skin that can cause severe stomach upsets if not cooked and soaked correctly.
They need soaking for 8 hours and then need to be rinsed and boiled rapidly for ten minutes to destroy the toxin. After that I would rinse them and put them in the slow cooker.
Not sure what the toxin is but I know its on the NHS website. Sorry am on my phone so its hard to post links without losing the page.

lynnejk

Florenceem wrote: »

End of my 4 weeks - I am declaring at £26.71
A really low total but taking the last two lots of 4 weeks together - works out at approx - £11.50 per week. There is just the two of us - we don't buy alcohol, take aways or ready meals. Most toiletries we get as gifts so don't spend much for those sort of items. When I started on here - I had a very large stock of cleaning products plus well stocked cupboards and freezers. My stocks are still looking healthy although a bit depleted.

Florenceem - how on earth do you manage on £11.50 a week ?? Do you grow a lot of your own produce ??
Even at Al*i we spend 79px2 on milk and £1.30 on bread = £2.88 a week before we start :eek:


Today spent 2x50p on 2 standard Col*ate toothpaste in £stretch* and 79p milk in Li*l = £1.79. Working tonight so DH had s & s chicken with rice (both freezer) and I had LO Shepherd Pie (freezer) with B Beans.


Hope you all have a terrific Tuesday
Lx